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Simple Summary: Current knowledge about the dogs in care and their adoption needs provides shelters with the information to promote and match dogs more successfully with potential adopters. The analyses reported here provide up-to-date insights about the dogs adopted from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Queensland (RSPCA Queensland) and risk factors that influenced their risk of readmission. For the dogs adopted, age and body weight at adoption, days in foster before adoption, and colour and breed are all independently associated with the risk of readmission to RSPCA Queensland. Not all dog adoptions are successful. This two-year retrospective study used survival (i.e., time-to-event) analyses to investigate readmissions for dogs adopted from RSPCA Queensland shelters between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2020. A better understanding of temporal patterns and risk factors associated with readmission may help RSPCA Queensland shelters better target and tailor resources to improve retention by adopters. The failure function (the cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted by day of the adoption period) increased rapidly during the first 14 days of the adoption period. Approximately two-thirds of all returns occurred in this period. This readmission rate may have been influenced by the RSPCA Queensland adoption-fee refund policy. The cumulative percentage of adoptions that were readmitted plateaued at just under 15%. Dog size, age, coat colour, breed, and spending time in foster before adoption were factors associated with the risk of readmission. Failure functions for a low and a high-risk adoption example demonstrated the large degree of difference in hazard of readmission between covariate patterns, with estimated percentages of adoptions being returned by 90 days for those examples being 2% and 17%, respectively. Spending time in foster care before adoption appears to be protective against readmission, presumably because it supports a successful transition to the new home environment. Behaviour support and training provided for dogs during foster care may contribute to improve their outcomes. These findings highlight the profile of the higher-risk dogs potentially providing shelters with an opportunity to examine where and how resources could be allocated to maximize outcomes for the overall cohort. Population attributable 90-day failure estimates were calculated for each of bodyweight and age at adoption, coat colour, spending time in foster care before adoption, and breed. This calculation shows the expected reduction in the cumulative percentage of dogs readmitted by day 90 if the hazards of readmission for higher risk categories were reduced to those of a lower risk category. Expected reductions for individual factors ranged from 1.8% to 3.6% with one additional estimate of 6.8%. Risk of readmission could be reduced through increased development of foster capacity and capability, targeted interventions, improved adopter-dog matching processes, and more effective targeting of support for higher risk dogs, such as older or larger dogs. Population impact analyses provide a macro view that could assist shelters in strategically assessing the return on investment for various strategies aiming to improve adoption outcomes and potentially reduce readmissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The acceptability of methods for managing cats' and dogs' undesired encounters with wildlife remains a contested issue. Despite a wealth of research on the effectiveness of management strategies, successful implementation is reliant on public perceptions and attitudes towards the different strategies. This paper reports on the results of a survey which sought to understand the attitudes of a self-selected group of residents in Queensland, Australia, towards various management actions for controlling dog and cat populations and behaviour (hereafter managing dogs and cats). Our respondents collectively grouped strategies into those that directly cause wild (i.e., feral) dog and cat deaths and those that allow wild dogs and cats to live a 'natural' life, with the acceptability of the first group of strategies varying by gender and age. These important variations in beliefs and attitudes require careful management within each community for the success of any program to control wild dogs or cats. Many humans have created close relationships with wildlife and companion species. Notwithstanding that companion species were at some point themselves wild, some wild (i.e., feral) and domesticated (owned) dogs and cats now have significant impacts on wildlife. Many strategies exist to control the impact of dogs and cats on wildlife, but the successful implementation of management initiatives is tied to public opinions and the degree of acceptability of these measures. This paper reports the findings of a survey assessing the beliefs of residents in Queensland, Australia, about dog and cat impacts on wildlife, and their attitudes towards various strategies and options for controlling wild (i.e., feral) and domesticated (owned) dogs and cats. The responses of 590 participants were analysed. Our respondents collectively grouped strategies into those that directly cause wild dog and cat deaths and those that allow wild dogs and cats to live a 'natural' life, which is a variation on past research where respondents grouped strategies into lethal and non-lethal methods. Community acceptability of strategies that directly cause wild dog and cat deaths (each assessed using five-category Likert scores) was lower amongst females and respondents aged 34 years or less. Gender expectations in most places and cultures still predominately suggest that women are more 'caring', supportive of animal welfare, and perhaps cognizant that wild dogs and cats are also sentient creatures and appreciate the problematic tension between controlling wild and companion species. Age-related differences may reflect the changing social values of communities at different points in time. There was high support for regulations that enforce responsible pet ownership but not for the importance of pet-free suburbs, which the majority of respondents considered unimportant. These important variations in beliefs and attitudes require careful management within each community for the success of any program to control wild dogs or cats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) shelters around Australia take in hundreds of unwanted adult cats and kittens each year. Widespread desexing (or sterilizing) of cats before they have a chance to become pregnant would reduce numbers of kittens born, and hence, would be expected to reduce numbers of cats entering shelters. Veterinarians have an important role to play in promoting desexing of cats before they reach puberty, and this paper reports on a survey conducted to describe Queensland veterinary practice policies and activities. We ascertained ages that veterinarians recommended for desexing of cats, ages at which desexing actually occurs, what veterinary practices are doing to promote desexing, and what the respondents see as the barriers to desexing before puberty. Cats are prolific breeders, and if most cats were desexed prior to puberty, numbers of unwanted cats and kittens, and hence numbers entering shelters, would be expected to decline. Although traditionally in Australia it has been reported that 90% of veterinary clients' cats are desexed, there are still hundreds of cats and kittens that end up unwanted and in shelter care annually. In this study, we surveyed Queensland veterinary practices to describe ages that veterinarians are recommending cats should be desexed at, ages at which desexing actually occurs, what veterinary practices are doing to promote desexing of cats, and what veterinarians see as the barriers to desexing of cats before puberty. A questionnaire was developed and sent to all veterinary practices in Queensland. The response rate was 50%. Almost 45% of respondents recommended desexing at the traditional age of 6 months, which is later than puberty in most cats; for more than 56% of practices, the actual average age at which desexing occurred was at least 6 months; and in a substantial proportion of practices, when desexed, high percentages of cats had already had litters. Most practices took steps to encourage their clients to have their cats desexed, and most thought these steps were effective. The results from this study suggest that although veterinarians generally agree that cats should be desexed prior to having their first litter, recommended and actual desexing ages are commonly too late to ensure this is achieved. Better understanding is required about both the likely impact of more veterinary practices recommending and conducting desexing before puberty on numbers of unwanted cats and numbers surrendered to shelters, and the drivers of age at which cats are desexed. This could inform strategies to reduce numbers of unwanted cats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endemic stability is a widely used term in the epidemiology of ticks and tick-borne diseases. It is generally accepted to refer to a state of a host-tick-pathogen interaction in which there is a high level of challenge of calves by infected ticks, absence of clinical disease in calves despite infection, and a high level of immunity in adult cattle with consequent low incidence of clinical disease. Although endemic stability is a valid epidemiological concept, the modelling studies that underpinned subsequent studies on the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases were specific to a single host-tick-pathogen system, and values derived from these models should not be applied in other regions or host-tick-pathogen systems., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We report serologic evidence of cetacean morbillivirus (CMV) infection in five of eight cetacean species found live stranded, injured, or trapped along the coast of southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia between December 2005 and January 2011. Antibody to CMV was detected in 13 of 27 (48%) wild cetaceans sampled. Antibody prevalence was significantly higher in clinically diseased (69%) compared to nondiseased (18%) animals (P=0.018). There was high antibody prevalence (83%, n=6) in melon-headed whales (Peponocephala electra). Two of 13 (15%) captive cetaceans sampled between November 2005 and January 2011 had CMV antibodies and, as infection was unlikely to have occurred while in captivity, CMV infection appears to have been present in Australian wild cetaceans since at least 1985. These results indicate that morbillivirus infection is occurring without widespread cetacean mortality in this region. However, as the deaths of two immature Australian offshore bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) were attributed to CMV infection, morbillivirus infection should be included in the differential diagnosis of disease in cetaceans in Australia. Captive cetacean populations may be prone to significant mortality as a result of CMV introduction, so strict quarantine procedures should be enforced when injured or stranded cetaceans are hospitalized and rehabilitated at Australian zoos and marine parks.

The present study evaluated the impact of final-year clinical practice-based training on veterinary students' perceptions of competence in "Day One" abilities by administering a pre- and post-training self-assessment checklist. This study also investigated the influence of student demographics on their perceptions of satisfaction about their own knowledge and skills and preparedness for practice. Perceptions regarding the usefulness of the checklist as a self-audit tool were also sought. Final year students (N=85) were surveyed on commencement and upon completion of the training using a checklist that had been adapted from the list of essential new-graduate abilities that was developed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and adopted by the Australasian Veterinary Boards Council. Significant improvements in student perceptions of competence were observed for 38 of the 41 abilities. Students' satisfaction with their knowledge and skill base and their perceptions of preparedness for practice were only weakly correlated with overall perceptions of competence for individual ability items and did not vary significantly with student age, gender, background, intended field and location of work, or with their work experience as veterinary nurses-if any-while studying. Two thirds of students believed that access to the self-assessment checklist on commencement of the training helped them identify areas for improvement before graduation. This article concludes that clinical practice-based training results in considerable improvement in senior veterinary students' perceptions of competence in Day One abilities and that a self-assessment checklist may help students guide their learning. Results from the present study may be useful for veterinary schools as they develop or enhance strategies used for outcomes assessment.

The brush-tailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Parasitic diseases have been proposed as possible contributing factors to the decline of the species, but very little is known about the effects of parasites on this host. This study determined the antibody prevalence of the protist Toxoplasma gondii in a wild brush-tailed rock-wallaby population from three neighboring colonies in southeast Queensland, Australia. Fecal egg and oocyst count, tick count, severity of skin rash, and presence of lice and microfilariae were also monitored during four or five trapping periods over 1 yr. Antibodies against T. gondii were detected in 5% of animals (3/64). Fecal egg and oocyst counts were highly variable, but fecal egg counts were lower in subadult animals relative to adults. Neither fecal egg count nor oocyst count was associated with variation in blood variables or condition index, but a negative association between fecal egg count and oocyst count was observed. Microfilariae (Breinlia spelaea), lice (Heterodoxus octoseriatus), and skin lesions were seen more frequently during the November trapping period. A mite, Thadeua sp., was more likely to be detected in these skin lesions than in skin of unaffected wallabies. Tick (Ixodes holocyclus and Haemaphysalis bancrofti) counts also varied between trapping periods and were lowest in the April/May trapping period. This study provides the most detailed account to date of parasite burdens in a vulnerable macropodid, but no clear evidence emerged linking parasites to adverse impact on the host.

Student perception of the relevance of a topic is known to influence learning outcomes. To determine student perceptions of the usefulness, focus, and application of epidemiology, we conducted a study at two Australian veterinary schools in 2005. Veterinary students in year 3 at the University of Sydney and in year 5 at the University of Queensland completed a self-administered questionnaire at the commencement and conclusion of an epidemiology course. At both universities, while over 95% of students considered epidemiology to be "essential" or "quite useful" in cattle and sheep practice and in government practice, at the course end between 10% and 30% of students still did not consider epidemiology to be "essential" or "quite useful" in small-animal or equine practice. However, the percentage of students who considered that all veterinary work involved the application of epidemiological principles increased from 7% at course start to 15% at course end at the University of Sydney (p=0.188), and from 3% to 25% at the University of Queensland (p<0.001). The results indicate that, although some veterinary students, even at completion of an epidemiology course, still do not link epidemiology with an evidence-based medicine approach to patient care, undergraduate courses can positively change student perception of the usefulness, focus, and application of epidemiology. These findings will be used to refine the epidemiology courses analyzed to improve the learning outcomes of our students.

The introduced parasite, Echinococcus granulosus, has been reported in numerous macropodid species in various areas of Australia, but no extensive studies investigating the prevalence and risk factors for infection in wild macropodids have been reported. In this study, 2998 macropodid carcasses were examined following commercial culling on 21 properties in southern Queensland. Of the 71 infected animals, all had cysts in the lung tissue, while two also had cysts in the pleural cavity and one animal had a liver cyst. The number of cysts in infected animals ranged from 1 to 17, with the majority of animals (n=64) having one to three cysts. Estimated total cyst volume varied from 0.2 to 1075 cm3. Some animals had a total lung cyst volume likely to have impacted significantly upon respiratory function and cyst degeneration was only seen in approximately one-third of infected animals. Multilevel models were used to investigate putative risk factors at both kangaroo and property levels. At the kangaroo level, females were twice as likely to be infected as males. After adjusting for sex, no property-level risk factors were significantly associated with the presence of hydatid infection. Prevalence varied substantially between properties (range 0-12%) and this high degree of clustering of infection was reflected in a high intra-class correlation co-efficient in the final model (0.333). These results have important implications for both public health and conservation strategies, and suggest that there are important unidentified risk factors for hydatid infection associated with properties. They also demonstrate that spatial clustering should be considered when analysing hydatid infection data in macropodids, particularly when assessing area-level risk factors.

Fourteen populations of anuran larvae (tadpoles), including three populations of the endangered Fleay's Barred Frog (Mixophyes fleayi) and 11 populations of the common Great Barred Frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus), in creek sites in the southeast region of Queensland were selected. Site selection was based on a history (within the district) of adult frog population declines and/or disappearances or records of infection of adult frogs or larvae by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Larvae were collected once from each creek site between October 2002 and October 2004, and were between Gosner developmental stages 25 and 40. Total body length ranged from 18 mm to 100 mm. Mouthparts were examined under a dissecting microscope for grossly visible abnormalities, and then examined for histologic evidence of B. dendrobatidis. The most consistent mouthpart abnormalities found were multifocal depigmentation of the jaw sheaths and loss or shortening of the tooth rows. At the individual larva level, presence of mouthpart abnormalities was strongly associated with histologic diagnosis of B. dendrobatidis (93%). At least one larva with abnormal mouthparts was detected at 12 of the 14 sites and histologic evidence of B. dendrobatidis was detected at 13 of the 14 sites. These findings suggest that larvae of Mixophyes species are suitable for surveillance for B. dendrobatidis. We conclude that surveillance of B. dendrobatidis where individual larva prevalences of mouthpart abnormalities and histologic evidence of B. dendrobatidis are as high as those observed in this study (66% and 78%, respectively), relatively small numbers of larvae are required to detect these infections. Medium to large larvae (body length >30 mm) were much more likely to be affected than small larvae (body length < or =30 mm), suggesting that larger individuals should be targeted for surveillance.